About

A father-daughter team designs
and renovates houses on
Philadelphia's Main Line. This
blog is Naomi's design
inspiration journal. Stay awhile
and soak in pretty spaces,
furniture finds, design projects
and a few gratuitous shots of a
pug named Bailey.

Archive

A couple of weeks ago, Cassandra of Coco + Kelley wrote a post on her love for Ateriors Home lamps. I left a comment saying that I shared her love, but was currently annoyed that I had two lamps on backorder since December.

Well it seems the folks over at Arteriors found that comment, as they promptly contacted me and have since shipped me my lamps. I am again smitten with the company, and am really enjoying my small Malaya Table lamp.

Sorry for the crappy photos, but this corner gets zero natural light and I’m a terrible photographer. Just trust me when I tell you she’s pretty. I’m excited to find a home for her in the new place soon!

By the time I move, I will have lived here almost three years, which is about two years longer than anywhere else I’ve ever lived. I remember my 26th birthday dinner at Amada when I stood up and announced to my friends that I was buying a condo.

(my apartment, the day I signed the offer)

I was SO excited to take on the challenge of my OWN space. Walls and cabinets and flooring couldn’t hold me back now! I could do whatever I wanted and truly make the space mine. I was so confident it would be the most impressive, fantastically designed apartment. EVER.

Oh silly, naive Naomi.I will be the first to admit that this here apartment is NOT the coolest, most stylish, most creative apartment ever. It’s probably not even the best decorated unit in my building.

I could blame it on my old green sofa and chaise. They were impossible to move in, and replacing them wasn’t an option- even though the very sight of them upsets me. Or could I say I was restricted by my bland dining set? Another purchase made before I knew better. Or maybe I just have bad taste. After all, I did, at one point, think this would be a good idea…

YIKES!

Ultimately, I am OK with the fact that this apartment was not my design masterpiece. Instead, I will choose to think of it as my training wheels. It was Here that I truly fell in love with interior design. Before, I had always had a more-than-casual interest in design. But I lacked knowledge in design history, decorating styles, furniture types, material and pattern pairings, and even the hot trends. Hell, I didn’t even read design blogs.

(My first purchase for the apartment. Anybody want it? Because I don’t.)

Throughout my time here I have experimented with color, texture, furniture arrangements, accessories and lighting. My roommate has willingly suffered through three straight years of projects-in-progress. Paint brushes have been left in the sink. Spray paint dust has been caked on the floor. Pillows have changed faces. Furniture will mysteriously show up in the living room, only later to be banished to my bedroom, and occasionally pop out again in the common area. Life would have been much easier if I just had a basement to hide stuff! Carrie, I want to thank you for your patience, and for putting up with me while I’ve continuously expressed myself ALL OVER the apartment.

But enough with the jibber-jabber. Many of you have asked to see the space, so I thought I would give a little tour before I say goodbye. This is as good as its gonna get, Folks. Hopefully the next place will be more impressive. (And maybe someday I will learn how to take a decent picture.) Until then, I will always have Thirteen and South…

I first mentioned this space back in April. Well 9 months later, the 40″ x 64″ space isn’t quite done -the table lamp hasn’t arrived- but this is what we have today…

I simply painted the old cabinet white, wallpapered the space, and hung a few hooks. I found both the mirror and the cabinet hardware at Anthropologie. The mirror was a steal, whereas the hardware was ridiculously overpriced…

I mentioned my wallpaper art and coffee table in a previous posts, so i wont go there. Newer additions include my ridiculously large table lamp i found on super sale and this ugly, awesome, vintage chair i stole from my parents.

The best part of the room? The pillows of course!

I’ll be the first to admit that there are far Too Many pillows in this room. I have rationalized that soon all my friends err pillows will have to split up into various rooms in the new house. So, I’m letting them hang out all together for these last few weeks.

On to the dining area. This space has gone thru several iterations. I orginally bought two purple benchs and pillows and made myself a cozy banquette setup. (Note lovely brass chandelier)

I’ve had to use every last inch of restraint to stop myself from buying a new table and chairs that better suits my style. I shall wait until the next place, I shall wait until the next place. That’s my mantra.I have since gifted the benches to my parents- opting for a cleaner set up. I also painted my chairs white and bedazzled my brass chandelier with capiz shells.

Yes that is the same chandelier- for more info on that see this post. Oh also found myself a cheap rug from Surya that reminded me of Jonathan Adler’s houndstooth rug. Only mine is larger and about 600 less dollars. Haha Suckers!

Alas, i have no before photos of the Kitchen. Just try to image pasty yellow cabients with kelly green frames.My first project was to tear down this half wall and put in an island. (technically its a peninsula)

(weee it was fun to kick this puppy in)

After a brief stint in chocolate brown, my cabinets decided they would rather be white.

Boo I’m dark and sad.

Yay I’m white and happy.

See my granite? I went to the granite scrap yard and fell in love with the veining.

I was so siked that I didn’t care it conspicuously matched the green formica on my original cabinets. I told myself someday I would switch out those counters for simple black counters to compliment my green island. Today both green counters are still in place and I dont really care

I DO care about my hideous backsplash. I tinkered with the idea of painting it. Instead I just hung up this Salivdor Dali print. I like that it adds some color in this space. My wallpapered cabinet also makes me happy.

I hesitate to even show my bedroom as I never really “did” this room. Too many furniture pieces and an abudance of mismatched dressers made this a tough space.I do however enjoy my tree wall.

My favorite part of the bedroom is behind the tree wall. My closet!I’ts messy, sorry, but just trust me that its my happy place.

Another small bedroom project- i got some scraps of The Woods from my wallpaper guy, Paul. I decided it would look lovely in my wood frame thats been sitting around unloved. Unfortunately, I totally didn’t double check measurements and ran out of the paper. That’s what i get for wallpapering on a Friday night while slightly tipsy.

I dont care, I put it on my dresser anyway. If anyone points it out, I tell them to shut their pie hole.

OH and just a small bathroom improvementBye bye clam shell, hello bargain granite counter. (Same cabinet, just painted it white.)

Philadelphia Folks- This lovely gem is for rent! Furnished, if you want. Contact me for d’s.

Oh and lastly- Blogger tells me this is my 100th post!I just want to congratulate myself for not quitting or throwing myself under a bus those few times when no one left me comments.May the next 100 kick the last 100’s Ass.

happy weekend to you all. i’m off to – what else- plot out my next dream home!

I was perusing Molly Luetkemeyer’s beautiful website when I happened upon this photo…I was impressed that I was drawn to the room even though it features the color I’m currently avoiding; Red. Recently I’ve had the urge to purge all red from my life. Here it is used subtly, and mixed tastefully with blue… ie my current favorite color obsession.

The metal chairs are retro-fabulous, the windows bring in great natural light, and front and center we have a very familiar coffee table.

Looks a lot like this, right? It made me excited, proud, yet a little bit annoyed that mine wasn’t the only of its kind out there. Silly, I know. And I bet they paid more than the $28 I did for my coffee table. So there!!

But I figure if my taste is similar to Molly’s than I must be in good company.Her firm, M Design Interiors has designed lots of inspiring rooms. She mixes contemporary with vintage and eclectic pieces. White and colors are used together to make a big impact. She’s not afraid of patterns and prints. Or a sea of white. Yes, sounds a lot like me after all…

Here are a few of my favorites:A great retro chandelier mixed with modern furnishings and Wisteria‘s Antiqued Peacock Mirror. Modern, Vintage, antiqued? Yes, yes and yes.White walls paired with colorful, vibrant, funky art.

Sculptural chandeliers. Red framing makes the Louis XVI chairs feel fresh and modern.Someone’s not afraid of deep blue walls and I like it!Another retro chandelier, the lovely ghost chair, and what looks to be a big ole’ frame of baby pink on the wall. I would never think I would like this, but I do.

Just a little taste of beautiful rooms from M. Design Interiors. Check out their site for more!

So my dear roommate, Carrie, is moving out. Leaving me for greener pastures. As she will only be a block and a half away I’m still hopeful we will make time to hang out and share our obsessions and random musings.

Her absence means I will now have a completely empty room just waiting for me to attack with decorative fervor. One would think I would have come up with 4 room layouts, multiple color schemes, and mood boards by now. I have not. I have no clue what I’m going to do with the space.

My indecisiveness may have to do with the fact that I am slightly freaking out at the idea of paying my mortgage entirely by myself.That monthly rent money was like my license to live (mildly) lavishly and not think twice about many of my home upgrades.

I think my lifestyle is about to change, and I’m not sure what that means for the decorative state of my apartment. I DO know that it’s probably a good idea to invest in several dozen cans of my favorite soups. Bye Bye eating out.

Now, for a moment, let’s totally forget what I just said, and imagine how fabulous this daybed would be in the room?

And for above the daybed, my favorite dear busts. Yes I’ve talked about them before, and I probably will again. Get over it. They are smashing.

There we go, instant guest room! (and by “instant” I mean 2 hours wasted when I should be designing billable hours. ooops.)Realistically this room is WAY out of budget and too many objects to fit in the small room. But who wants reality any way? It’s Monday, and I like my design-daydreaming just fine.

Mom came over tonight for a date in the city. This glorious event necessitated a thorough cleaning of the apartment. (Or at least a sweep of Bailey hair and hiding of the crap.) Nothing like a good clean to force you to re-evaluate your space. Per usual, I am not satisfied. Per usual I would like to get rid of half my stuff and start over again. But I know this is ridiculous. I need to stop spending money on my room. This room has been like a revolving door for furniture. A sofa came to visit, went to the bedroom then was resold. Rugs and coffee tables have come and gone. Art is transient. Plants even get switched around. I get a little sick to my stomach when I think of all the money that I’ve probably spent adorning my home.

So I decided to take part in Nester‘s Price My Space Party to see how much my (current) living room actually has cost me.

Tell You the truth, it wasn’t quite as bad as I thought. I am nowhere as thrifty and nifty as Nester, but I’m hoping to get better at finding treasure amongst trash. From here on out I make a new vow for this apartment; I will only buy used/thrift shop items. Or maybe pieces that are environmentally friendly as well. Or a really really good deal. Hehehe. So here goes…

Sofa and Chaise: Purchased 5 or 6 years ago at local philadelphia furniture store for $899.

Jute Rug is from Pier One- $99.

Coffee Table. $28 Ebay find.

Buffet was a thrift store find. I think it was $300.That slate piece to the right of the buffet is actually the top of my old coffee table. I took it apart and didn’t know what to do with it!

The frames were from Target- $20 in total. Baskets store dog toys and blankets. They were free as I stole them from my parents.

Art on the walls is free wallpaper samples.I picked these pillows out for my friend’s restaurant. When the restaurant closed I was sad. But then he gave me the pillows, so I was happy!

Curtains: Solid red ones were from Target for $20. Patterned ones are from Urban Outfitters- $16 on sale! My chair is a spare dining chair. It lives here most of the time.

End table is Ardesia Slate from Pier One. Maybe it was $50? I forget… its old.

Plant= stolen from my Mom= Free.

Target Hudson Bookshelf from 3 seasons ago was $199I think all the accessories were gifts from my Mom. Thanks Mom!